Friday, March 12, 2010

Texas Textbook War---A Battle for the Mind of our Kids

As of midnight last night the Washington State Legislature used up their 60 days of regular session. The two chambers, both with big Democratic majorities, have been unable to get it done.

A 30-day special session will cost an additional $18,000 per day.______________________

Over the next few days what happens in Texas will not stay in Texas. It will affect what your child learns in the classroom over the next ten years.

Texas is in the final stages of adopting their standards for social studies textbooks. Because Texas is such a large consumer of textbooks, the publishers use the Texas standards in printing and distributing textbooks to nearly every state in the country.

That's why what they are doing is such a big deal. And it's why secular revisionists are out in full force trying to influence the process of what your child will learn. And what he will not learn.

FOX NEWS says, "A liberal onslaught has been unleashed to try to influence these education standards."

However, the conservatives and people of faith are standing strong for an accurate account of history.

Here is what's happening. You can't make this stuff up.

A recent survey from Rasmussen finds that 60% of Americans believe that most school textbooks are more concerned with presenting information in a politically correct manner than in accuracy.

They've got that right.

The liberals on the panel tried to remove Independence Day, Neil Armstrong, Daniel Boone and Christopher Columbus from the textbook. They even tried to remove any mention of Christmas, but have a section on Diwali.

Conservatives stood their ground and these decisions were reversed.

The panel then tried to remove Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison and feature Mary Kay and Wallace Amos (Famous Amos Cookies). They said this would offer more "diversity" for the kids.

Einstein and Edison are back in the textbooks and so is "BC" and "AD," rather than the "BCE" designation of time before Christ that doesn't acknowledge Christ.

So far the secularists are prevailing in keeping any mention of America's religious heritage out of the textbooks.

Separation of church and state is now under vigorous debate.

Democratic board member Mavis B. Knight has introduced an amendment regarding the separation of church and state which she says, "was intended to inform students that there is a political and legal doctrine out there that addresses the issue," because she says, "I'm afraid the student won't otherwise know about it."

The conservatives are responding that the kids should be taught the truth of the matter, including the background and evolution of that notion. It is yet to be decided.

Professor Larry Schweikart says there are errors in many of the textbooks. He says the first thing he does when he reviews a textbook is to go to the section where they are discussing Ronald Reagan. He says a majority of the books he has reviewed credit Mikhail Gorbachev with ending the Cold War, not Reagan. That, he says, gives you a good idea where the rest of the book stands.

He says that aside from the political bias, there are many factual errors. I have linked the story where he gives several such errors, such as: New Orleans was settled by the French in the 1600's. Fact: It happened in 1718. The Louisiana Purchase extended America to the Mississippi River. Fact: It extended America all the way to the Rocky Mountains.

It cannot be overstated how important it is for parents to know what their children are being taught in the classroom and what is in the child's textbooks. I know it takes effort---but our kids are worth it.

The secular progressives have a plan for your child's education. If you do not prevail, they will.

The question is simply this: What do we teach our kids? There is an all out battle for the mind of your child. The philosophy in the classroom today is the philosophy of the culture in the next generation.

We have a God given responsibility to raise up our children with proper understanding and a biblical world view.

5 comments:

Thank you for this very important information. We should pray for those persons who are conservative and of faith that God's will for our nation would prevail through their action. The secularists fail to recognize that God has plans for this nation as well as our children.

Goofy textbooks can take away the excitement of learning. I wish I would have been exposed to the exact words that men said who have had an important impact on history, even men like Adolf Hitler, but I don't think I would have liked to have been required to study too much of him.

I would have liked to have been introduced to what exactly the man said in his speeches and such so as to know better about what he was about.

Right or wrong people in power have made an impact on the world and there is a lot of importance in learning what to watch out for in the future, or what to restore people to if it is good.